The blood stone was easy to find. Albie could sense it. His hunger drew him to the little jewel filled with life force. The young mage was had reached the point he was checking his shirt for blood stains that came from wounds he didn't have. The vitality stored in the blood stone would have sated his hunger, but it had so many other uses.
If the infantry were going to be hard tonight perhaps, he could still catch a cavalryman or maybe a stray dog. As Albie thought he remembered the gate house and the men sleeping inside. They might be more alert now. The size of the guard house would only fit twenty men at most. Not all of them would be awake. If the orange coats only had four shrapnel guns the chances one of the remaining three was at a gate was small.
Albie limped to the gate with nine large bees. A pail faced shadows lurked in the alleyways. If not for the fact he knew it, he might be afraid of them. A twisted human shadow that only ever appeared in the corner of his eye. Always slipping out of site before he could look straight at it. The new lurker had a stone made of only his blood. It responded to his mental commands well and he new were it was by his blood.
The lurker played its game of hide and seek. Practicing on its master, or more likely doing as its installed instincts commanded. Something about the carving on its head gave it the knowledge it needed to do as it did. What parts did what Albie could only guess for now. It would take time to decipher the runes purposes. Time, he didn't have right now. The fact they worked was enough. Perhaps he could investigate it later, but he already had other projects that required his attention. His mind could only work one project at a time. Perhaps he could build other minds to help in his experiments. Scab might be able to do some research. Perhaps more whights could solve his lack of brain power. Maybe he could find some other thing in Abomination Warfare to aid his research.
His thoughts on enlisting the dead's minds paused as he saw the gate house. Three men with muskets stood outside the building. A lantern spilled light around the small courtyard between the wall and the nearest house. One horse sat in a nearby stable ready for a rider to jump on and send an alert. One man watched the gate the other two watched the city. More men were likely inside. Lost to sleep awaiting slaughter. The men could watch the ground level all they wanted. Not one of them watched the sky.
In response to his will the lurker crept behind him. It stood waiting to fulfill his dark desires. The swarm of bees lifted the dead thing from the ground and flew it to the top of the wall. Only a faint hum of bee wings could be heard in the night. They avoided the meager pool of lamp light keeping to the darkness were the orange coats could not see.
The lurker crawled down the wall headfirst. It clung to the wall like a spider. Silently it snuck up on the solder guarding the gate. Its legs held onto the wall as its arms and clawed hands stretched down like a snake to the sentry. In the blink of an eye its claws were around the man's neck and he was hoisted into the air. Kicking wildly in desperation as his neck was crushed. The man went limp and the bees grabbed the body flying it to the top of the wall.
Slowly the lurker moved on to its second victim. From the tile roof of the attached guard house it looked down on the man. He didn't notice as its body stretched down until its head was level with his own. Then he was pulled to the roof hands grasping at black claws. For a moment Albie worried that he would disturb the tiles and rouse the guards. The sentry's murder was silent. His body left on the roof for the bees.
The lurker looked down on the last guard. It shifted from the roof like sand in an hourglass. A black hand grabbed the man's head covering his mouth its black fingers wrapping around his head. Its other arm wrapped around his body pinning his arms uselessly to his side. The lurker pulled the man to the floor and Albie ran from the darkness and laid his hand on the man who grew cold and shriveled as the mage fed on his life force.
The familiar sight of fear in the mans eyes blead from the man as his time on this side ended. A shriveled body in an orange uniform was left were it lay. Albie walked to the post were the lantern was hanging and blew the light out. The bees and the lurker were fed, and pleased Albie opened the door of the gate house slowly. Nine men were sleeping inside. Albie snuck into the gatehouse.
One man mumbled and shifted in his sleep. Albie pulled out his knife ready to slit the man's throat. The man calmed down not waking the others. He would be first.
All his time playing with spiders and bees made what came next almost simple for the mage. Carefully a hand was placed over the man's mouth. The flesh altering moon magic used the mans own life force two meld his lips into one solid peace of skin. The change woke the man, but he could not speak. His mouth was gone. He tried to move his arms, but his hands where caught by the lurker. Acid was spit on his elbows and hips and soon he had no arms or legs.
He took two more men from their beds in the same way. A fourth was taken with his legs left on his body but tied. Albie debated killing the other men but decided it would be a waste of precious life.
Albie stole their muskets and cartridge boxes before leaving the guard house. He looked to see the uniformed husk and decided it should be placed against the door. The body was stiff enough that it could be leaned against the door like a plank of lumber.
All the captured men were placed in one of the abandoned wagons near the gate. Albie collected the horse. A strong beautiful creature in his opinion. It seemed a sweet beast that let him hitch it to the wagon without any fuss. The horse pulled the wagon down the city streets over the bodies with a happy clop clop.
If the noise had woken anyone in the gate horse, they did not rouse in time to stop him. The horse was a good beast. Perhaps he would let it live for tomorrow. At least until he had exhausted the men.